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Vivint Solar

The fact that Vivint Solar officially filed with U.S. regulators last week for an initial public offering of common stock is an indication that solar continues to be a hot option for security companies.

Vivint Solar’s parent company is Provo, Utah-based home automation/home security company Vivint, which was bought by The Blackstone Group in 2012 for more than $2 billion.

Now, Reuters reported Aug. 26, Vivint Solar has filed for an IPO and set its fundraising target at about $200 million. And the news service said Vivint Solar lead underwriters to the offering are Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith and Credit Suisse.

The company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VSLR, Reuter said. The company plans to use the IPO proceeds to repay debts, make investments and for “other general corporate purposes,” the news service said.

Reuters had reported earlier in August that Vivint Solar had confidentially filed for an IPO. Around that same time, Protection 1, one of the nation’s largest home and commercial security, also announced it would be launching a solar division called Brite Energy. Sales of solar panels to homes and businesses are expected to begin this fall.

And earlier this year, GHS Interactive Security, a new California-based security company, announced it was partnering with Solar Universe, a leading nationwide residential solar company, to combine security and solar into a comprehensive home automation package.

Since its launch in 2011, Vivint Solar has grown to be the second largest solar installer in the country.

Reuters said that the nation’s residential solar energy market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 28 percent, to about 1,713 megawatts of capacity in 2017, according to research firm GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association.

PROVO, Utah—Vivint Solar, an affiliate of home automation/home security provider Vivint, announced April 16 that Dwain Kinghorn has been named chief strategy and innovations officer and will align the company product portfolio with new business development channels.

PROVO, Utah—Vivint Solar, an affiliate of home automation/home security provider Vivint, has purchased Solmetric, a company that makes tools to assess sites and performance, the company announced Jan. 24.

In the lawsuit, filed Dec. 4 in U.S. District Court in Utah, Vivint Solar said it is bringing the case to prevent Merkley “from violating his contractual non-competition, non-disclosure, and customer/vendor non-solicitation covenants by going to work for Solar City.” Vivint also wants to stop him from disclosing trade secrets and soliciting Vivint Solar’s employees to go and work for SolarCity, the lawsuit says.

Vivint Solar is seeking to have the court restrain Merkley from working for Solar City for the time period his non-competition covenants apply. Vivint Solar also is asking for damages.

However, in another twist, Merkley and Solar City, which is based in in San Mateo, Calif., are suing Vivint Solar in California state court, saying non-competition covenants Merkley signed with Vivint Solar are unenforceable under California law, according to Vivint Solar’s lawsuit.

Vivint Solar, based in Provo, Utah, was established in 2011 and quickly has become the nation’s second-largest provider of residential solar systems, employing the successfull door-knocking sales techniques of Vivint. However, Solar City, founded in 2006, is the largest home solar provider.

Merkley was one of the original executives of Vivint Solar and a board member, so had an in-depth knowledge of the company, according to the lawsuit. He was “the face and voice of Vivint Solar” with the public and at community events and industry functions, before starting his new job at Solar City on Dec. 1, the lawsuit says.

Merkley tried to recruit a Vivint Solar VP to join him at SolarCity before he left Vivint Solar, but the VP refused, the lawsuit says.

Merkley was not the first Vivint Solar executive to bail for SolarCity. Former Vivint Solar CEO Tanguy Serra also joined SolarCity last spring.

[UPDATE ON NOV. 14: I heard back late yesterday from SolarCity, which confirmed that Vivint Solar COO Brendon Merkley has joined SolarCity. Molly Canales, a communications associate with that company, told me in an email, "Brendon has accepted an offer to join SolarCity and we’re excited to welcome him aboard." So my report below is no longer speculative.]

Vivint Solar has been making headlines of late regarding the rapid success of the 2-year-old business and the new round of financing it just secured. Now here’s more about the company: The COO of Vivint Solar—a division of home automation/home security provider Vivint—has reportedly jumped ship for SolarCity, Vivint Solar’s larger competitor.

If true, COO Brendon Merkley is following in the footsteps of former Vivint Solar CEO Tanguy Serra, who bailed for SolarCity last spring.

Last month, Vivint Solar announced it had secured $540 million in new financing. And this month, the success of Vivint Solar—based in Provo, Utah—was the topic of Reuters feature story titled, “Knock! Knock! Solar company wins converts going door to door.” The story says that Vivint has quickly captured a 9 percent share of the residential solar installation market in the United States.

Interestingly, the Nov. 8 also extensively quotes COO Merkley on some of the secrets of Vivint Solar’s success. Vivint Solar also announced in June that Merkley had been elected as the executive committee’s state policy committee chair for the Solar Energy Industry Association.

But Reuters reports that SolarCity remains the market leader, with a 26 percent share.

And yesterday, Greentech Media reported that Merkley had defected to SolarCity.

I have reached out to Vivint Solar and SolarCity but Greentech Media says in its Nov. 12 report that it has already done that. “Vivint has confirmed that Merkley has left the firm. SolarCity has confirmed that Merkley is joining the firm,” the site reported.

Greg Butterfield this fall took over Serra’s old job as CEO of Vivint Solar. Who will replace Merkley? Stay posted!